Bottle opener and seal cutter



March 1952 R. ECKENBOY BOTTLE OPENER AND SEAL CUTTER Filed Feb. 2, 1946 w! m 4 Z. Z 2

Patented Mar. 4, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to bottle opening devices and particularly to a device for breaking the seals and stamp disposed over a cork in a bottle when loosening the cork and also for removing a cap from the neck of a bottle.

Difliculty is usually experienced when breaking the seal and removing the cork from liquor and wine bottles. It is first necessary to break the seal and stamp before access is had to the'cork which may be of a type extending over the neck of the bottle or which may be flush with the bottle end.

The present invention pertains to a device having a plurality of fingers provided with converging cutting edges which engage the seal and stamp when the neck of the bottle is inserted between the fingers and which are severed thereby when the bottle is rotated. When the cork of the bottle projects over the end of the neck of the bottle, the cork is also engaged by the cutting edges of the fingers and prevented from rotating so that it will be loosened when the bottle is rotated and can be removed from the neck when the bottle is removed from the device.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a simple device for destroying the stamp and severing the seal covering a cork on the neck of a bottle.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a device having a plurality of fingers containing converging cutting edges which engage the seal and stamp on the neck of a bottle when the end is inserted between the fingers and sever the seal and destroy the stamp when the bottle is rotated.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a device which may be readily secured to a bar, wall or other object and contains three projecting fingers having cutting edges which converge toward the base for loosening the cork and destroying the seal and stamp on the neck of the bottle when rotated therein and employing two of the fingers in combination with a projection for securely engaging a cap on the bottle which is pried therefrom when the bottle is moved toward the fingers.

Other objects and features of novelty of the invention will be specifically pointed out or will become apparent when referring, for a better understanding of the invention, to the following deshown asapplied to the bottom face of a protruding edge;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of structure, similar to that illustrated in Fig. 1, showing the device applied to the vertical face adjacentto the projecting edge of the bar;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 2, taken on the line 3-3 thereof;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the device illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the figures, the device I is illustrated as comprising a base portion 2 which is secured by screws 3 to the bottom face of a horizontal projecting edge 4 of a bar or like device. The base 2 has a plurality of projecting fingers 5, herein illustrated as three in number, the inner edges 6 of which converge toward the center I, which is herein illustrated as an aperture. The edges 6, as illustrated more specifically in Fig. 3, are disposed in acute angular relation with side faces 8 and 9 to provide a sharp cutting edge for each finger. Since the edges 6 are in converging relation toward the base 2, it is apparent that the projecting fingers 5 will receive the necks of bottles of different sizes and engage the projecting ends, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

In the figures, it will be noticed that the bottle H) has a cork ll extending from the end of the same of larger diameter than the diameter of the neck over which a seal I2 and a stamp I3 are disposed in the conventional manner. The seal may be perforated at I4 at the junction between the cork and the bottle where it will separate when the cork is rotated in the bottle neck. When the end of the neck of a bottle is inserted between the projecting fingers 5 with sufiicient scription, taken in conjunction with the accomforce for the cutting edge along the edges 6 to bite thereinto, the twisting of the bottle thereafter will produce the tearing of the seal along the perforations HI and the destruction of the stamp 13 as the cork is held against rotation, after which the bottle may be removed from the device and the cork lifted from the neck. When the cork does not project from the end of the bottle, as herein illustrated, the rotation of the bottle in the fingers 5 causes the sharp cutting edges to cut the end of the seal l2 and destroy the stamp 13 when the bottle is rotated after which a corkscrew may be applied for removing the cork.

In addition to the fingers 5 for breaking the seal, destroying the stamp and loosening the cork on the end of the bottle, the device has the further utility of removing metal caps from the end of the bottles. Midway between two of the fingers 5, and aligned with the third finger, an arcuate projecting element l6 extends from the base portion 2, as illustrated in the figures. When a cap I! of a bottle I8 is inserted between the projection l6 and the adjacent fingers 5, it is firmly secured when the bottle I8 is moved away from the base 2. This movement will be downwardly when the device is secured to a horizontal support, as illustrated in Fig. 1, and will be outwardly when the device is secured to a vertical support, as illustrated in Fig. 2. When the cap is securely held between the projecting element I6 and the two adjacent fingers 5, it will be removed from the bottle as the bottleis moved from the plane of the support for the device.

The device, therefore, is adaptable for breaking the seal and destroying the stamp on a bottle having a cork disposed flush with theend of the. neck, for breaking the seal, destroying thestamp and loosening the cork on the bottle when the cork extends over the neck, and for removing caps from the bottle. The converging cutting edges of three projecting fingers will bite into the seal and the cork, if projecting from the bottle, and will be loosened when the bottle is rotated. A cap-engaging element is spaced from two of the fingers to securely hold a cap on the end of the bottlewhen placed over the element and moved against adjacent fingers tosecurely hold the cap as the bottle is separated therefrom by the further movement thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A seal-breaking device embodying a base having means thereon by which it is secured in fixed position and from which a plurality of radially disposed tapered fingers project, the

4 inner edges of which are in converging relation relative to the base, the inner faces of the fingers and one side face thereof being disposed in acute angular relation to form cutting edges therealong.

2. In a device for loosening bottle closures, a base plate having mounting screw openings therein, a plurality of flat face plates of substantially trapezoidal shape positioned perpendicular to the base plate and radially disposed about a center on said base plate, each of said face plates being provided with a sloping edge, the portions of said face plates adjacent to said base plate being of greater width than the outer portions of said face plates, said sloping edges each being beveled in the same direction and adapted to grip the peripheral surface of a closure inserted in the area between the sloping edges of the face plates, said face plates being spaced from each other and disconnected from each other.

RUSSELL ECKENBOY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 651,377 McDermott June 12, 1900 1,750,820 Schleinzer Mar. 18, 1930 1,752,189 Lotz Mar. '25, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 2,214 Great Britain of 1895 4,665 Great Britain of 1902 20,564 Breat Britain of 1912 

